Girl visiting state may have virus

Melbourne doctors have placed a three-year-old Canadian girl in isolation after she was diagnosed yesterday with a probable case of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

If confirmed, the girl would be Victoria's first case of the deadly disease which has so far killed 79 people worldwide and infected more than 2000 others.

The girl visiting Shepparton with her family from Toronto, Canada - where SARS has killed at least six people and infected more than 120 others - was transferred by ambulance from Goulburn Valley Hospital to Monash Medical Centre after developing a high fever and breathing problems.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Dr Robert Hall said the girl's symptoms were consistent with SARS. Her condition matches criteria advised by the World Health Organisation: she has a fever above 38 degrees, breathing problems and has been in an area reporting SARS infections in the past 10 days.

Victoria Department of Human Services spokesman Bram Alexander said the girl had been placed in a "negative pressure" isolation unit with a separate air supply and sterile exhaust system to ensure there was no risk of infection to others. All medical staff and visitors would wear face masks, full medical gowns and gloves in line with treatment for other infectious diseases, he said.

Mr Alexander said doctors were unable to confirm whether the girl was infected with SARS because there was no test yet available. The Sir Charles Gairdner hospital in Perth yesterday said it expected to develop a blood test for the virus within the next few days.

Victorian health authorities have investigated up to 30 cases of suspected SARS over the past month, clearing all of them.

Tourism Victoria has warned that the threat of SARS, along with the war in Iraq, poses a serious threat to tourism.

Chief executive Lois Appleby yesterday said airlines had already decreased services and a softening of international visitors from Britain and the US would be compounded by fears about the SARS virus.

"Never before has the tourism industry had to cope with such a large number of incidents of this magnitude," she said.

Ms Appleby said the downturn in visitors would have a "trickle-down effect" on the Victorian tourism industry, hitting hotels, major attractions and spreading to regional areas.

To date, Australia has had one confirmed case of SARS, a British tourist, who has recovered and returned home. The WHO estimates the worldwide SARS death toll to be 79 from 2223 cases in 19 countries.

- Qantas yesterday defended itself against criticism that it had failed to adequately communicate with passengers about the risk of SARS after a woman suspected of having the virus was removed from a plane bound for Hong Kong.